This text was originally published as a part of an article for the
American fanzine The
Skreem #11 in May 1995. I have made some updates (and will
continue
to
do so -- just stay tuned!), but basically the text is the same as
originally.

The first Finnish illegal raves were organised in the
summer of 1989 by the Hyperdelic Housers which core was formed by
Mika Vainio
(aka D-Code aka Øm aka Ø who had started DJing in clubs in 1985,
playing among all industrial and hip hop), Tommi Grönlund and Esko
Routamaa. The Hyperdelic posse hailed from the Turku town at the southwest
coast of Finland and were spinning original Chicago acid and house, also hip
hop and funky -- the legendary Trax Records collections, 'Acid Over' by Tyree,
'French Kiss' by Li'l Louis, 'Humanoid' by Stakker, early Orbital tunes like
'Deeper' and 'Satan'...

The Hyperdelics got their records from trips to London and Berlin, since the
availability of any proper house and techno in Finland was nearly non-existent
in those days. After having visited the first warehouse party in Leningrad
(now St. Petersburg) just across the Finnish border, the Housers organised
the now-legendary Odd Zone all-night rave in the summer of 1990 as part of
one of the most important city rock festivals of Finland, Down By The
Laituri in Turku.

Despite their pioneering spirit (or maybe because of that), the Hyperdelic
Housers' parties were often ridden by the local police, as most ravers were
underage -- and though the Hyperdelic Housers were also organising the big
Typpihappo raves at the Turku Typhoon hall as part of the large Ruisrock
festival held every July, their activities were starting to recede by the
summer of 1992, as techno and house music were already playing in every
self-respecting disco and dance venue.

The Hyperdelic Housers were to spawn the first underground label of Finland,
Sähkö Recordings, whose central place was to be in Helsinki. During
1993 Sähkö ('Electricity') already published five 12":s. Early 1994
saw the first Sähkö CD, Metri by Mika Vainio, recorded as
Ø (pronounced "ohm"). Before this, Mika had already published in 1991
the first Finnish techno album Mindprobe by
Corporate
09 which then consisted of Vainio and Pertti Grönholm.

Sähkö became best known for its scarce, ultra-minimalist sound. The
first releases by Mika Vainio had almost as much silence on them as actual
music; and listening to them on a quiet volume, one could almost imagine
the
stylus of record player had just stuck in the groove. It's quite hard to
pinpoint any kindred spirits to Sähkö's music; maybe Canada's
Richie Hawtin (of Plastikman fame) or Germany's Moritz (Maurizio/Basic
Channel) Von Oswald at their most minimalist mood could come close, but even
then, there is hardly any resemblance to the world of your ordinary dance
techno in the tracks of Ø and Hertsi; maybe one should go as far as to
the Zen-like philosophy of American avantgarde composer John Cage to find
any possible similarities to Sähkö's output.

A lot of attention was put to Sähkö's design: the early records were
released in unmarked silver sleeves, full of tiny drilled holes (inspired by
the industrial artist Boyd Rice who, according to rumour, broke in to his
record label's office in the 70's and drilled some extra holes to his records
so one could also play them off-center), and CDs were hidden away in
fiddly cardboard envelopes to give that intentionally "cheap", maybe also
industrial look. (As far as Sähkö's merchandise go, most
Pan sonic and Mika Vainio T-shirts available are designed by Mika's
brother Atte Vainio a.k.a. Attentaat.)

Later on also some international artists joined in when Sähkö
released material from Mike Ink, Kirlian (aka Abe Duque), Sil Electronics (aka
Susanne Brokesch), Fred Giannelli; there was also talk about releasing the
early recordings of Bruce Gilbert (of Wire fame) and Ron Vest, but this still
remains uncertain. What was common to all these artists, was that they were
each trying to be even "more Sähkö" than those first Sähkö
releases had been, and someone like Sil Electronics even went so far in her
minimalism that Mika Vainio's releases almost sounded like baroque music in
comparison.

Sähkö's sublabel,
Puu ('Wood') was
flourishing too, concentrating on
more housy/easy listening/jazzy efforts, like two albums from
Jimi Tenor which rocketed him
to international success, a double 12" of deep house by Turku DJ Sasse
Lindblad,
a 12" of Mika Vainio's Tekonivel project, and a joint effort of Mika
Vainio and Jimi Tenor, Kosmos (Kocmoc), reeking easy listening-like ambience
with Russian folk song flavour -- of which was initially spread the rumour
that it was recorded by two fellas from Moscow's Astronomic Institute... 1997
also saw "Le Mutant" solo album by Brandi Ifgray, of the Finnish cult band
Shadowplay fame,
produced by Brandi's old friend, Jimi Tenor; combining
Brandi's Lou Reed-esque vocals to Jimi's "cheapie" synth sounds. Jimi also
recorded in the same year an EP of old school dub type of music with Peikko
Viitala, called "Pula Dub".

Furthermore,
there were two more 12"'s from Freestyle Man, "Que Domingo Inquieto" and "Port
Arthur"; the former had as its guest the renowned Finnish vibes player Severi
Pyysalo, alongside the ever-present Jimi Tenor. Jimi was also behind
the Business City Orchestra 12", released on March '98. Jaakko Salovaara,
who had co-operated with Mika Vainio on Sähkö's early Hammond
house release, "Saab 96", and nowadays better known for his dancepop act
JS16, had his hands on the "En Velo" EP (June '98),
recorded as Papa Blue. Morris Brown remixes for Brandi Ifgray were
released in autumn '98. A surprising Puu release was the Cat & Mouse
mini-LP by Kärtsy Hatakka (of Waltari fame) and his brother
Tote,
consisting of music, which could be called a combination of prog-rock and
industrial techno, out late 1998. March 1999 saw the latest Brandi Ifgray
outing, a long play called Stargazer.
Also a CD compilation of
Freestyle Man's 12"s for Puu Records came out in August 2000, in
co-operation with German Cliché label.

Tommi Grönlund (left in the picture, with Jimi Tenor), the head
honcho of Sähkö, working also as an
architect (in a.men, the group of designers and architects which among all won
the competition for new kiosk designs to Helsinki! Grönlund was
also
chosen the Young Artist
of the Year 1997 in Finland along with his partner, Petteri Nisunen),
couldn't even in his wildest dreams foresee Sähkö's success as
reputable part of the international techno underground. Sähkö
records were praised by such people as Mixmaster Morris, Mike Paradinas aka
µ-Ziq and even Björk(!) who asked Mika Vainio to mix her track
'Headphones' for the 1996 Telegram remix album.

Sähkö's first
releases had already reached the DJ charts of the German techno magazine
Frontpage and the British DJ magazine, Melody Maker listed Sähkö
Recordings as a "Hot Tip for 95", and M8 zine rated the label the No. 1 Tip
for 95. In December 1994 Tommi was interviewed by the leading British pop
music tabloid NME, with loads of articles on Panasonic and Jimi Tenor to
follow in its wake.

In addition for the trivia freaks, it should be mentioned
that here in Finland Tommi Grönlund is also known as the disc jockey TG,
spinning house music alongside with other DJ, Harri, though playing records
on his international gigs with Sähkö Tommi has to take more
experimental approach for which his record label is best known.

Oddly, Sähkö remained in underground in their native Finland as
their products were still hard to get, except in those specialized dance
music stores; as their domestic Finnish distribution was nearly non-existent
despite all the hype they had received overseas, and even when Panasonic and
Jimi Tenor -- the star of sublabel Puu and then signed to Warp Records --
started to get some foothold on an international scale. Now, with
Sähkö and Panasonic licenced to the British Blast First label, it
may be possible that their outcome will find its way even to those lazier
techno punters, who have no time nor interest to chase after those valuable
original silver sleeved 12":s.

Some relief
to the record collectors was had in the summer of 1997 when Sähkö
re-released their first two 12"'s as a double-12", and also when those same
tracks appeared on Tulkinta CD by Ø, with some bonus tracks.
German EFA Medien now distributes Sähkö internationally.

The latest releases of Sähkö are from Mika Vainio's "medical" Philus
project: Kolmio 12" (SÄHKÖ-014) which features two new
tracks and two remixes from Tetra CD (SÄHKÖ-015,
both January 1998), of which Mika Vainio says: "I used to work at a medicine
factory working in a
process of making contraceptive capsules. Every day I had to put on the
plastic gear, go through the air lock and get disinfected before
entering the bright white production hall. That hall had extremely cold and
inhuman atmosphere. On Tetra I wanted to create the same
kind of ultra-neutral environment. I tried to make the record sound like the
world of insects or microbes, totally empty of feelings and
thoughts, but still having a premonition about the presence of something
invisible that could be behind all this."
Stylistically, the release following these, Come To
Dance EP (Sähkö-16, July 1998) is electro, written by
Freestyle Man a.k.a
Sasse Lindblad, and features the already-legendary Irwin Berg of Turku.

In the true freak nature, other
Mika Vainio solo releases,
such as Mikro Makro on Rastermusic, have raised strange reactions in
fans, as being able to create actual physical pain in them; this comes
from a
posting to IDM mailing list: "If you have Mikro Makro (Rastermusic 06,
I think), listen to the
third song for clicks halfway through that are actually painful at any volume.
I have tried this on a couple of friends and they felt pain in their necks and
throats. It gave me a headache after repeated listenings. Mika Vainio has my
ultimate respect for being able to tap into my nervous system through a CD."

As far as other Sähkö
news go, Tommi Grönlund (b. 1967) and Petteri Nisunen (b. 1962)
worked for a new
installation for Nuit Blanche exhibition in the Museum of Modern Art in
Paris. The new Museum
of Modern
Art, Kiasma, in Helsinki, presented
the joint project "Nimetön"
('Untitled') of Tommi Grönlund,
Petteri Nisunen and Carl Michael von Hauswolff from 30 May to 12
July, 1998.

Also the gallery Sculptor in Helsinki exhibited Tommi's and Petteri's
art in October 2000. Led-Field
(on the right)
consisted of the grid of electric
wires and blinking red lights, and Concave Wall Installation was a
saucer-shaped paraboloid antenna installed right to the wall, registering
the movements
of exhibition
visitors and responding by electronic signals, as interactive art. All in
all, Tommi and Petteri have already had exhibitions in Paris, Barcelona
and New York,
among all. Tommi and Petteri also curated the exhibition of the Nordic
Pavillion of the 49th Venice Biennale, 2001.

Tommi has started with Harri Hännikäinen a new
Sähkö sublabel called Keys
of Life, which concentrates on house music. The first release is
the Heartbeat EP by Roberto Rodriguez, followed by a 12" release
of Freestyle Man and George Spruce (July 1999), and Afrobaltic Soundkimara
(aka Jori Hulkkonen and Tuomas Salmela of Step Time Orchestra)
12" of July 2000.

The latest Puu/Sähkö Recordings releases are the joint project
of Jimi Tenor and Finnish jazz legend Edward Wesala,
called City of
Women (Vesala died suddenly in December 1999, just before album's
release); also the solo album of
Suicide's
Martin Rev, called Strangeworld, and All The Time 12" from
Jimi's new bride, Nicole
Willis. Her LP, Soul
Makeover (2000) for Puu, is a blend of sultry soul, electro
Motown soul and deep grooves. Also Jimi Tenor released again a single
Cosmic Relief (July 2001)
and album Utopian Dream (October 2001) on Puu, after his contract
on UK's Warp Records had expired.

About the forthcoming releases, Tommi mentions Kuusumun Profeetta, whose
album he is going to publish as vinyl version in Japan, probably the solo
album of Chris Dawkins (ex-Nightmares On Wax), produced by Jimi Tenor;
also material from Die Blutleucht, Acidkings, Eero Koivistoinen, Olli
Ahvenlahti and Nicole Willis.

Tommi has now returned to Finland,
after having lived some time in the warmer climate of Barcelona,
Spain, like
his Sähkö/Puu friends Mika Vainio and Jimi Tenor.

"The Sähkö Headquarters is here by the desk at my own
home", Tommi Grönlund tells. The home office
has a computer, some files, "a metre-thick pile of
faxes", boxes full of DAT tapes and records. During one
year, one cardboard box gets filled with demo tapes.
"Most of them are still experimental electronic stuff.
Little by little, also some different sorts of tapes
seem to start coming, which makes me glad."

Tommi says he
would like to widen the spectrum of Sähkö's published
musical output, and to keep its every release surprising or
even confusing for the audience, in a positive way; to go against
the grain and not to worry too much about the possible expectations
from outside. So, the sparse minimalist techno seems to be not in
the agenda any more, and the future remains totally unknown.